Microbes Dictate Animal Behaviour in Feeding and Mating

A new approach to understand animal behaviour is focusing on the relationship between animal behaviour and beneficial microbes. Microbiomes are the community of microbes that dwell inside the animal's body. This study evaluates the recent advancement in this emerging research area and proposes questions for future analysis.

According to Ezenwa, till date most of the research on the interaction between microbes and their animal hosts has concentrated only on pathogens. But not much is known about beneficial microbes or animal microbiomes. The recent studies have begun to explore these connections.

"We know that animal behavior plays a critical role in establishing microbiomes," she said. "Once they're established, the microbiomes then influence animal behavior in lots of ways that have far-reaching consequences. That's what we were trying to highlight in this article."

The researchers stated the example of the Bumble bee who acquire the microbes they need through social contact with nest mates, including consuming their nest mates' feces, not uncommon way for animals to acquire microbes.

"There are a lot of behaviors that animals might have that allow them to get the different microbes they need at different points of their lives," Ezenwa said.

Microbes on the other hand play a greater role of influence a wide range of animal behaviors, including feeding, mating and predator-prey interactions.

In order to support this statement, researchers quoted the example of the recent study found that fruit flies prefer to mate with others that have microbiomes most similar to their own.

Other studies have focused on understanding the mechanisms by which microbes influence behavior.

"Recent experiments have been able to assess the molecules that are involved in communication between microbes in the gut and the brain of mice, showing that microbes are associated with shifts in things like depression and anxiety in these mice," she said. "There are huge implications in the role these microbes play in regulating neural function."

Whereas Ezenwa's work focuses on the how social behavior and interactions between organisms might increase their likelihood of acquiring parasites and pathogens. She started a new project examining animal behavior and microbiomes in relation to infectious disease.

"As in the example of the bumble bees, behavior might control the microbes an animal acquires, and those microbes might then influence the animal's vulnerability to pathogens," she said.

Based on the analysis done the researchers conclude that, in order to answer queries that focus on the complex interactions between microbiomes and animal behavior, a combination of molecular and experimental approach is needed.

"This is a new, emerging topic that's worthy of much more investigation," Ezenwa said.

This article is published in the Perspective section of the Journal Science.